Sittin' in a Tree
by Estrelle Buscador
Summary: This was going to be one of the most important nights in their entire lives...so how did Arnold and Helga get themselves stuck in a tree?
1. What Goes Up

Hey all! This is my first multi-chapter fanfic, and I hope you enjoy it. It was inspired by a post in a Hey Arnold! forum asking authors to give Arnold and Helga some alone time in Mighty Pete. Without further ado, here it is!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold! or any of its characters. Although that was probably obvious.

* * *

"Hey there, Mighty Pete! Do you remember us?" The blond-haired young man said to the enormous tree as he placed his hand between the curves of its bark. Arnold turned to his girlfriend of several years and grinned. "What do you think, Helga? Doesn't being here bring back memories?"

His girlfriend hooked her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes. "Oh sure, Arnold. Nothing says "good times" like remembering the time when Big Bob tried to run us all down with a bulldozer. You sure know how to show a girl a good time, Football Head." All the sarcasm in her voice couldn't hide the glitter of amusement in her eyes.

"Come on, Helga. There were a lot of good memories here too – card games, campouts, end of the year parties. Besides," he gave her a mischievous sideways grin, "I remember a certain heroine rushing in to save us from certain doom…and I don't mean my grandmother."

Helga blushed, and tried to cover it up by saying sternly. "Speaking of parties, we need to be getting to Phoebe's – the party'll be starting in half an hour."

It was the beginning of the summer holidays, and all the former students from P.S. 118 had returned home from their respective colleges. Helga and Arnold had just driven back to Hillwood together that afternoon and were eager to meet up with their former classmates. Phoebe herself was hosting a "Welcome Home" party for all of the old gang that evening. Helga couldn't wait to see Phoebe, having missed her friend immensely. Although Arnold was just as eager to see the old group, especially Gerald, he had been able to persuade Helga to take a break from unpacking and go around to the old haunts. They'd seen the docks, the vacant lot, and now were stopping by Mighty Pete before making their way to Phoebe's house.

"Oh, we have plenty of time, Helga. Phoebe's house is just five minutes away. Let's go up – for old time's sake?" Helga was about to protest again when Arnold looked at her with that half-lidded gaze of his that made her go all to pieces. The protest died in her throat and she shrugged. Arnold grinned and began to climb the weathered rungs of the old rope ladder. "You coming?"

"I don't think so."

"Aw, c'mon! Where's the fun-loving, adventurous Helga I know and love?"

"She's been wearing heels for the last few blocks. Forget it."

"Please, Helga? There's no point in climbing up here alone. Don't you want to see how the old treehouse has fared over the years?"

"Well…"

"Please? Just for a few minutes, and then we'll leave for Phoebe's, I promise."

"Okay." Helga slipped the heels off her feet and followed Arnold up the ladder. She felt it creak suspiciously as she stepped from the top rung to the wooden platform. "That doesn't sound good. Hey Arnold, you sure it's safe to be up here?"

"I don't see why not." Arnold said, looking around him at the old treehouse, the walls and floorboards covered in a thin layer of dust. "But this place has sure seen better days. What are the kids of the neighborhood up to, they can't give the place a good dusting at least?"

"Well, maybe they don't have someone to remind them to "pool their resources" and work for a common goal." Helga joked.

Arnold snorted in laughter. "I guess not. It worked for us, though. Look over there," he pointed to the lower deck of the tree house, "that's where we could sit and watch the stars at night, where we could talk for ages about nothing at all." He began walking down to the deck.

"You better be careful, Arnold. Those boards look rotten."

"It'll be okay, Helga. Just let me run down there real quick, and then we can go."

She watched him swing down and walk along the railed deck and smiled. Turning to the tree, she put her hands on the boards of the tree house wall and wiped away some of the dust. _We did have some good times here. Good times that I wouldn't change for anything. But some things have changed. For one thing, I'm wearing heels now, _she grinned, _and I'm not a girl pining for someone she can't have. Arnold's mine, and I'm his now – we love each other…_

There was a loud crash, followed by a yelp of surprise. Spinning around, she looked to where Arnold had been standing not two minutes before. The space was empty. A cold spike of fear stabbed her heart clean through. "Arnold?" she whispered, then yelled, "Arnold!" Tears starting in her eyes, she ran down to the deck, taking no care to watch the floorboards, "Where are you?" There was a great hole where Arnold had been standing, and on closer inspection she could see hands gripping the jagged ends of the wood. Peering down, Helga could see Arnold's face looking up at her with embarrassment and a nervous smile.

"Arnold…"

"Helga, I think we might be a little late to the party…"

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A/N: I hope you've enjoyed it thus far; more chapters will be coming soon! Please please please review and let me know what you think!


	2. Fashionably Late

Greetings Readers, and welcome to the second chapter of Sittin' in a Tree! For all newcomers, I apologize for the uploading problems. I was doing some editing and somehow uploaded another chapter in this one's place!

I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold! or any of its characters.

* * *

"Of all the dumb, moronic, idiotic, stupid things to do…"

"Helga."

" – can't believe that you could be such a brick-headed, stubborn, foolish…"

"Helga."

" – senseless, brain-dead, pig-headed, you could've broken your neck…"

"Helga."

"I told you not to go out there. I told you! And what did you do?"

"Helga!"

Helga stopped her rant, pink in the face. "What?"

"As much as I am sure that you want to continue, I think I might need some help. I'm afraid my fingers are starting to slip…could you run down and see if you can get me some help?"

Her anger evaporated in an instant. "Of course! Hold on." After all, she could get back to tongue-lashing her boyfriend for his stupidity once they were both safely on the ground. Now she needed to save his sorry hide. She ran over to the rope ladder and had put her weight on it only for a second when the right half of the ladder pulled loose from the nail anchoring it to the tree house. She fell back onto the deck with a thud and a shriek.

"Helga!" Arnold's voice could be heard shouting in terror from the hole, all of his joking manner gone. "Are you all right? Helga!"

"I'm fine. But I think we need to come up with a new plan," she replied, holding the frayed rope in her hand, "because there's no way I can get down there now."

"Hmm. That could be a problem." Arnold's voice said. "But we'll come up with something. Although I am afraid we're going to be a little later to the party than I planned."

"A little later? Arnold, who knows how long we'll be stuck up here?" While she was speaking, Helga had begun to work the rope loose from the wooden planks of the ladder.

"Well, now you can say that you've chosen to be fashionably late."

"Fashionably late? Fuh, leave that to Princess Lloyd. I have never wanted to be fashionable."

"Well, you look pretty good to me."

Helga blushed as she continued to remove the rope from the wooden planks. She passed and looked down at the pink and gold dress she had donned for the party; for some reason, Phoebe had asked everyone on the invitations to dress up a little bit. This was strange to Helga as Phoebe's parties usually were impeccably planned, but comfortably casual.

_To be honest, I really didn't want to get all dressed up,_ Helga thought as she worked the last bit of rope free, _but if Phoebe wants us to…it's the least one best friend can do for another. I didn't even think Arnold had noticed the dress, but now that he did – _she grinned to herself – _it's like the first day of preschool all over again. One little compliment, and I just melt._

"Thanks. You don't look half bad yourself." Actually, he looked really cute in the black suit he was wearing, but she wasn't going to tell him that until she was done berating him for being so dumb and worrying about him falling and breaking his neck. When they were both back on the ground. "I wonder why Phebes wanted everyone to dress up? Her parties aren't usually like that – generally, we could just show up in jeans."

"Phebes didn't tell you why?"

"No. How about Gerald, did he tell you?" Gerald might know, as he was helping his girlfriend about the party. Helping meaning that he was doing the heavy lifting, being emotional support, and distracting Phoebe with his jokes. So the last part was particularly helpful or time-efficient, but anyone who made Phoebe happy could waste all the time they wanted.

"No. Maybe someone's going to make an announcement and Phoebe wants everyone to be dressed up for pictures?" Their friend had become quite the shutterbug in high school, joining the school's Photography Club and taking pictures all over town. She'd even flirted briefly with the possibility of becoming a professional photographer before returning to her original plan to become a pediatric surgeon. "What are you doing up there, Helga? I don't want to be rude, but my hands are starting to slip…"

"Hold on, I'm almost finished." While they had been talking, Helga had been tying together some of the loose wooden planks of the deck together with the rope she'd untangled from the ladder to make a makeshift seat. Wrapping the rope around the seat and tying it firmly, she ran back to the tree trunk and wound a good portion of the rope around it. The end result was not unlike a tree swing, and when Helga was sure the knots were as secure as she could make them, she fed the swing through the hole. "I made this for you to sit on. Do you see it?"

"Yes. Let me try sitting on it." There was a noticeable creak and then the rope suddenly grew very taut. "This should work! Good thinking, Helga. Now we just need to figure out how to get down. We couldn't just lower ourselves down on this, could we?"

"No, there's not enough rope. I had to use a lot of it up to make sure the knots would hold. It's your turn to come up with a plan." She settled herself on the deck and stretched out her arms. The rope had been both really tough and really brittle, and tying all of the knots took a lot of muscle. "You think there's going to be some kind of announcement? I don't know…Phoebe probably would have told me."

"We'll figure out when we get there, I guess."

"If we ever do. Arnold, I don't know what we can do now."

"Let me think. Maybe I'll come up with something."

"I hope so."

It was an interesting sight, no doubt. Two grown people stranded in a child's tree house – one dangling from a short piece of rope that was swaying in the slight breeze, the other sitting with her legs over the side of the tree house deck looking increasingly sour. It was a laughable situation, and the young man who had just walked beneath the tree couldn't help himself. He burst out laughing, eliciting shocked expressions from both the occupants of the tree.

"Who is that?"

* * *

A/N: Dun dun DUN! Who is it? Read on to find out!

Thanks for reading and please review!


	3. Enter Stranger

Thanks again to those who reviewed!

**Thundercatroar**: Believe it or not, when I started writing this I didn't remember what exactly the tree house on Mighty Pete looked like! So I went on YouTube to find the episode. I didn't find the episode where they saved Mighty Pete...but I did find the one where Harold, Eugene, and Arnold were stranded. So when you mentioned that, I had this powerful deja vu. As to whether its him or not, you'll soon see!  
**aurorabridge**: Thanks very much! I hope you continue to enjoy it!  
**acostaperezjoseramiro**: Thanks! As to it being Harold...well, you'll see!  
**Kpfan72491**: Thank you!  
**loonytunecrazy**: Yes, I can see that dialogue so easily in my mind and it makes me laugh. That's a good guess for why they're dressed up, and you're on the right track! You all have made a good guess when you say it's Harold. Whether or not it's a correct guess, you'll see very soon! :)  
**PhantomAmethyst**: I helped get the idea for this from a forum here - let Arnold and Helga have some alone time in Mighty Pete - and for some reason, I decided to put them in peril rather than write a nice, normal romantic fic. Hahaha I like it though, and I hope you will like the rest.

Blatant fanfic plug: Reading Memories, another HA! fanfic that I've written, could come in handy when you're reading about the mystery man, as it provides some backstory. Reading it is not necessary to understand the plot of this fanfic, but feel free to refer to it if you so choose.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold! or any of its characters. I just decided to strand some of its characters in a tree for my own amusement, hehehe.

* * *

The young man stepped into a place where his face could more clearly be seen and waved cheerily up at them.

"Brainy?"

"Hey guys!"

Arnold grinned down at him, "Hey Brainy! How are you doing? What are you doing here?"

"I'm doing fine. I was just looking for you two actually. I just stopped by the boarding house, Arnold, and your grandma said you two were just hanging around town." He grinned shamelessly, "I didn't know that she meant it literally!"

Arnold laughed appreciatively, and Helga shook her fist at Brainy. "Brainy, you make another lame pun like that and you'll have to answer to Old Betsy!"

Brainy brushed the bridge of his nose subconsciously, but that was the only reaction he had to Helga's threat. Instead, he leaned against the tree's trunk and chuckled. "Okay, okay, no more puns. But that one's been bouncing around in my head for at least a minute. I had to let it out."

_It's good to see Brainy again, _Arnold thought to himself, _I've really missed him._ It was true that the two hadn't talked a whole lot before high school, probably because up until then, Brainy hadn't talked much period. But that had all changed when Brainy had come to Helga's defense their first year of high school. Brainy had become one of Helga's best friends, and, in time, Arnold and Brainy had become a lot closer. Brainy had grown out of his asthmatic wheezes and learned to hold himself higher. That, and the confidence found by finding a strong friend like Helga, had really brought Brainy out of his shell. He had a great sense of humor and could make everyone laugh, despite his slight affinity for bad puns.

Brainy was continuing to rub the bridge of his nose protectively. It still threw Arnold off to see Brainy not wearing glasses, even though he'd had contacts since their senior year of high school. The change was due to Helga; apparently after a three-year hiatus of not hitting Brainy, she'd lost control and socked him.

"Was she suffering from withdrawal?" Arnold had joked the day Brainy had shown off his new contacts.

"No, I don't think so. Just remember this, Arnold. Never, ever sneak up on her. Surprise makes her a little trigger-happy."

It was hard to associate the shy, stooping, bespectacled Brainy of their grade school days with the confident young man leaning in front of them. "When did you get back?" Arnold called down to him.

"Really early this morning – crack of dawn. You?"

"Just a couple of hours ago – we were unpacking and decided to take a walk and see the old sights."

"It's weird how much of this place hasn't changed, isn't it? But did you see the new baseball diamonds by the high school?"

"Yeah. They're really…"

"HEY LADIES!" Helga bellowed, "I'm sure you're enjoying your little tea party, but shouldn't we be getting to Phoebe's party now?"

"Right!" Brainy jumped up. "I was on my way over when I saw you guys. Come on down, we can head over together."

Arnold winced in a combination of shame and embarrassment, "Well, about that…"

"We can't." Helga interjected sharply.

"Why can't you?" Brainy looked puzzled. "Just use the ladder and come," he looked over to where the ladder used to be and his eyes popped open, "down. Oh…" He looked up at Helga curiously, "What happened?"

She pointed accusingly at Arnold. "This genius decided to walk where the boards were rotten and he broke through. When I tried to use the ladder to get down, the stupid thing broke and half of it fell to the ground."

Brainy frowned. "So basically you're – "

"Stuck," Arnold replied, and sighed, "I'm afraid so." He turned apologetically to Helga, "I'm sorry. We shouldn't have come up here."

Helga's face softened and she moved a little closer to where Arnold was, taking care not to put too much stress on the strained boards. "It's not like you broke through on purpose, Football Head. I'm just nervous – I don't want to miss the party and I don't want you to fall and hurt yourself."

"How strong are those ropes?" Brainy called from the ground.

"Not very." Arnold called back, "They're holding me up for now, but I don't know how long they'll last. We need a plan."

Brainy jumped up. "I think I have an idea! I'll need help, though. Be back as soon as I can!"

"Please hurry, Brainy!"

"Will do, Helga." He took off running down the darkening street.

Arnold watched him leave. "Brainy's quite a guy."

"Yes," Helga said quietly, "and after all those years of me beating him senseless, he chooses to be my friend." She shook her head slowly. "Brain damage. Brain damage inflicted by me. That's the only reason I can come up with as to why he'd willingly spend time with me."

"Helga," Arnold's voice came reproachfully but gently, "that's nonsense and you know it. Brainy's your friend because he wants to be, you deserve his friendship and he deserves yours. You have friends because you're a wonderful person." He grinned. "Even if you are a little violent."

"Hey!" She cried out and starting laughing, the sadness slipping from her voice.

"It's true! All of it." He wormed his hand through the hole and tried to place it on hers. She quickly saw what he was doing and smacked his hand. He withdrew it quickly with a gasp of pain and began rubbing the reddened skin. "Ow!"

She grinned. "I love you," she said in a sickeningly sweet voice.

"Ouch. Love hurts."

"That's what the sages have been saying for years. Sorry Arnold, but we don't need to put any more stress on the floorboards. We can hold hands after we get down."

"Oh, fine." Arnold suddenly felt a slackening in the rope and, for a moment, his heart stopped. He forced his voice to remain calm. "Uh, Helga?"

"What is it?"

"How strong would you say this rope is?"

"Not as strong as I'd like it to be."

"Seriously, Helga. How strong?"

"I'm not sure. Why?"

"It's just…it feels like I'm going down. Is there something wrong with the rope?" He felt another slackening and he closed his eyes for a second in an effort to calm himself. _Yes, definitely something wrong._

Helga turned to look at the rope on the tree trunk which, to her horror, was beginning to unravel. As she watched, the strands began to snap one by one and soon only the core remained. She looked at Arnold, and she looked at the core, which suddenly broke.

She knew what she had to do.

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A/N: DundunDUN! What does Helga do? Gotta love those cliffhangers. Please press the button at the bottom and review this! Reviews make me happy :)

[Were you surprised that it was Brainy? If you were, I hope you were pleasantly surprised. In Memories, I mention in a little more detail how Helga and Brainy became friends, and how exactly his glasses got broken that final time. That's all really that story has to do with this story, so you don't need to read it for this to make sense...]

Thanks for reading! More will be coming soon!


	4. Holding Hands

Thanks to **torie8988** for setting the challenge that inspired this fic, and thanks to all those who reviewed!

**NintendoGal55**: Yay! Good guess - I actually didn't think of Harold at all when I was writing this, but some people thought that he was the stranger...and looking back on it, it makes sense! Oh, they'll make it - the party wouldn't be complete without them! But as to how they do it...just wait and see!  
**Loonytunecrazy: **Thanks again! I really wanted to bring Brainy into this story - I have a soft spot for that guy!  
**Kpfan72491: **Merci! I hope you like this chapter as well!  
**acostaperezjoseramiro: **Gracias! Yeah...I like being surprising, and after I wrote my other HA! fic with Brainy as the main character I wanted to write for him again.  
**Phantom Amethyst: **Hahaha, aren't I terrible? Don't worry, though, I will update fast (I already have! Yay!) He has changed a lot - but I like the changes, although I hopefully didn't make him too OOC...he's more in keeping with the characterization I gave him in another story. And being sane is over-rated - but I won't keep you in suspense much longer!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold! or any of its characters. Please don't rub it in. :)

* * *

"Ow."

"Are you okay, Helga?"

"Ow. Yeah, I'm fine. You're just lucky that I like you – and that I was on the college rowing team."

Helga had done the only thing she could think of – she had flung herself down on her stomach and grabbed both of his forearms as the rope snapped. He'd grabbed both of her forearms as well, and together their grip was strong enough to keep Arnold from plummeting to the ground after the makeshift swing. But that didn't mean that either of them were either comfortable or confident with the current state of affairs.

"True." Arnold chuckled, "Hey Helga, we're holding hands."

"Idiot. I realize that." Her tone was strained.

A look of seriousness entered Arnold's eyes at the obvious strain Helga was experiencing. "Helga, are you sure you want to do this? Maybe we could try to swing me down? It's not that far of a drop – only about eight feet."

Her grip on his arms tightened. "Don't ever think about it. You could break your leg, or your neck, or you could – " _Die_. She bit her lip, willing the macabre thought to go away. "I don't want to lose you." Her eyes began to well slightly with tears.

"You won't, Helga. Everything's going to work out. Brainy or somebody will come, and they'll get us out of this mess."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I just am. Besides I'm not complaining – I'm currently in the arms of a beautiful woman, not a bad deal!"

She smiled through her tears. "I love you, Arnold."

"I love you too, Helga." _Is __now__ a good time? _He thought, _no, I should wait a little longer._ "How are your arms doing?"

"The arms are fine. How the dress is remains to be seen."

"It should be fine."

"It'd better be fine, or somebody around here is going to pay to repair it – and it won't be me," she threatened playfully. Then she sighed. "And it's brand new. I got it especially for this party." _And especially for __you__, Arnold,_ she thought, and blushed.

"It is a very pretty dress, and a good color on you." Arnold tilted his head to the side. "Why do you wear pink so often?"

"You really want to know?" she asked. Arnold nodded. "You promise not to laugh?"

"You could easily drop me at any time. I wouldn't dare to laugh."

"Arnold…"

"I'm kidding, Helga! Of course I won't laugh." _I've got to keep her talking,_ Arnold thought. _She may act like this isn't hurting – but I can see the strain in her face. I've got to distract her. Besides, I really am curious about her love for pink._

"Because of you," she answered simply.

"Because of me?"

"Yes. Remember our first day of preschool?"

He strained for a minute to remember. "Yes." It was a wet and miserable day, so bad that Grandpa drove him over to school in the Packard rather than walk him over. He'd been so happy and excited to get to his first day of school ever, he had kept his nose pressed to the fogging passenger window so he wouldn't miss a second of it. And that was when he'd seen the little girl right outside the school. Her pink overalls were splattered with mud, and she looked soaked, bedraggled, and very alone. At the time, all that he'd really noticed was that she was wet and umbrella-less, and he had an umbrella. That was all he could understand. When he was older, he realized the magnitude of the neglect the Patakis had for their youngest, beautiful, talented daughter, and it made him nauseous. Not only that, it was one of the few things in this life that made him genuinely angry, although he'd managed to keep these feelings hidden when visiting the Patakis – for Helga's sake.

"Well, that day started off as one of the worst ever. I was wet, I was scared, I was muddy, and no one seemed to notice me. And then suddenly there you were," she looked down at him, tears again glistening in her eyes but with a genuine smile on her face," offering your umbrella to me so I could get dry. And then you said, 'Nice bow. I like it because it's pink like your pants.' That was the first compliment I ever remember getting, and I wear pink because it makes me think of you – and how you noticed me." She turned her head slightly away and blushed a little. "I think I fell in love with you that very day."

Arnold's heart leapt in his chest, and he suddenly longed to take this woman whom he loved into his arms – though, he realized, he was already in hers. Was now the time – ? _Good a time as any other, although I would have preferred the situation to be a little bit different. Ah well, life's unpredictable – like Helga; and I wouldn't have it any other way._ He cleared his throat. "Uh, Helga?"

"What is it, Arnold?"

"Do you know why I wanted to come here?"

"To look at the old tree house, relive old memories, and bemoan the lassitude of today's youth?"

He laughed. "A bit of all three, but mostly the second one. There's one memory in particular I want to remember. I came over to this particular spot for a reason. Can you guess why?"

Helga was about to joke that he came there _because you wanted to do a floor inspection_? but stopped when she saw the serious look of his eyes. "I'm sorry, Arnold, I'm drawing a blank. What happened here?"

Arnold took a deep breath, and she noticed that his arms began trembling. "Something very important happened here, Helga. This is where we first – well, not the first time because we'd already done the play…or the second time either, that was on the FTi building…"

Helga looked at him in shock. Calm, mellow Arnold was slipping and stuttering over his words. That never happened. "Where we first what?"

He took another breath. "Where we first kissed – our first real, genuine kiss. And it was the first time I knew," now it was his turn to look away and blush, "that I knew you were the one for me. And now, I have one thing to say."

Her eyes were sparkling. "Yes, Arnold."

"Let go."

"Are you kidding? You'll kill yourself!"

"No, I just want to grab onto the floor and give your arms a rest."

"My arms are fine!"

His eyes beseeched hers. "Please, Helga. I need some of my dignity to do this – if I haven't already lost all of it."

She sighed and helped him – one arm at a time – grab onto the planking. "To do what?"

"Hold on." And Arnold proceeded to make his precarious situation even more perilous by taking one arm off the boards to fish around in his jacket pocket. Helga squawked slightly in protest, but otherwise let him keep his dignity.

He'd found whatever it was he was looking for, and had it cupped in his right hand so she couldn't see it. "Helga," he cleared his throat," there's something I've been wanting to ask you, and I've wanted to for a long time. I'd hoped that the situation would be…different, but I can't wait any longer to ask."

"Helga," he said as he flicked open the small box in his hand open with his thumb and held it up so she could see the glittering diamond ring inside, "will you marry me?"

* * *

A/N: Okay, I am not going to lie here. The last part of this chapter makes me act all sappy - it's so romantic, and yet a little surreal. I really liked the way it turned out, and I hope that doesn't make me sound conceited - I had no idea if it would sound good on paper or not. Does it? Or should I never try to write romance again? Ever?  
Anyway, so the hero has proposed - but our story is not over yet! Will Helga accept? (Okay, so that answer is probably a given...) And how in the world are they going to get down? Stay tuned for the next and final chapter to see the answers to these questions!

Thanks for reading and please review!


	5. K I S S I N G

So here we are at the end. I want to say thanks once more to **torie8988 **for posting the challenge for the fanfic, and a special thanks to all those who reviewed!

**Kpfan72491: **Thanks so much!  
**NintendoGal55: **Oh, it'll happen. Pretty soon, actually. Just wait and see :) And I'm glad to hear that I don't sound conceited - I really did love that last scene. Yes, yes, they do rule, they make me all sappy inside!  
**TTfanTT**: Thank you lots! I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint.  
**Loonytunecrazy:** I'm glad you think so! I think the way he proposes is adorable, too; I'm just glad that Arnold is such an awesome character that when I force him to propose in a potentially very embarrassing situation it actually works!  
**Twilight's-Mystery: **Thanks! I am very happy to hear that you think it's romantic - I do as well, but I didn't know if it would go off very well! (I got giggly when I was writing it...yep.) I never saw myself as a fluff writer...but it's a lot of fun...so more may be coming! A good guess about Phoebe, but she isn't pregnant in this story. You'll see why the party is special pretty soon...  
**Thundercatroar: **Thanks so much - both for reviewing and for being honest with me about my being too worried about what others think. I was half-joking when I wrote that at the bottom, but I was nervous about how the romance would come off to others - you were right in saying that as long as I liked it, that was what mattered. I'm just glad that others like it too! I really appreciate your reviews. Here comes the next chapter!  
**acosta perez jose ramiro: **It would have been even better timing if he hadn't broken through the floor first! Hehehe Poor Arnold, he had a plan but then it fell through. That is a good point about why he needed her to let go of him beforehand, I didn't even think about that!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold! or any of its characters. I am just a rabid fan.

* * *

The neighborhood was nearly silent. All that could be heard were birds calling good night to each other, the hum of traffic from nearby downtown, and the wind whistling through the branches and boards of Mighty Pete. And Arnold, the man dangling from the branches and boards of Mighty Pete, was silent and sweating bullets. _Why isn't Helga saying anything?_

"Ouch. Should I take that as a no?" he half-joked, but then felt a jolt of terror. _What if that __is__ a no? Why did I propose right here – I should've waited until we were on the ground…Proposing to a girl where you had your first kiss would be a lot more romantic if I standing __on__ the spot, not __through__ it...I must look like a joke. _He frowned slightly. _But she'd still respond even if it was a no…is she okay?_ His eyes widened. _What if she passed out? She was saying that her arms were bothering her before she grabbed me – what if the pain was too much?_ He finally relinquished the ring box and put it on the floorboards, hoisting himself up to look at her. _I shouldn't have let her hold me for so long!_

Helga was kneeling not far away from where he was, her eyes closed and her hands clasped near her heart. There was a blissful look on her face.

"Uh, Helga?"

"Shh," she whispered, not unkindly.

"Helga?"

"Shh, Football Head," she whispered blissfully, "I'm trying to savor this moment."

"You're 'savoring the moment?'"

"Shh. Yes, Arnold. Hold on a minute."

Arnold lowered himself back down through the hole, and went back to dangling, his heart suddenly warm and light. _She's okay! And savoring the moment…that has to be good, right?_ He shifted his weight a little bit as he waited; although he'd never admit it to Helga, his arms were becoming exhausted. _Well, at least now I can be grateful to Coach Wittenberg – all of those years of weird training __did__ pay off._

Helga's voice came floating down to him. "I've wanted to hear you say those words for so long, Arnold. And now that you have…I can't believe it."

"Not like you imagined it was going to be, I guess?" He winced in embarrassment. _Definitely should have waited until later._

She started laughing. "No, not really. Then again, at the same time I was imagining that I was President of the United States. I'm not sure where that came from."

_So she was laughing at her imagination, not at my proposal. That's good. _He grinned, "Hey! Who says that a famous novelist can't be the president, too?"

"I do. I don't want to be the President. I just want to be happy and write my books." Her voice grew tender. "I want you, Arnold."

If his heart grew any lighter, it was going to fly out of his chest. "So does that mean –?"

She laughed. "What other answer do you expect me to give, Arnold?"

"So...shall we go through it again, with the standard question and answer?"

"Why not? You can't beat the classics." Her joking manner didn't quite cover the excitement and elation in her voice.

"All right." He reached up, grabbed the box, and held it open once more. "Helga G. Pataki, will you marry me?"

The birds stopped singing, the wind in the trees was muffled, and Arnold was pretty sure that the hum of the downtown traffic came to a standstill – all drowned out by Helga's triumphant shriek of a "Yes!"

Suddenly, Helga had grabbed both of his arms, and he let go of the floor in surprise. "Helga! You shouldn't, your arms-"

"Oh, just shut up and kiss me, you fool."

He was happy to oblige. When she'd let go of his arms and he returned his grip to the floor, he picked up the box again and pulled the ring out. "May I?"

She offered her hand towards him, her fingers splayed out wide. "Please do."

He slid the ring onto her finger. It was a perfect fit. She held it up against the moonlight and watched it catch the moon's rays. He thought that the sparkling in her eyes far out-dazzled any little rock he could get her.

"Oh, Arnold…I wish that I could hold you right now."

He sighed, "Me too. But we'll have to wait – and when we're at the engagement part– oops." If he thought that only one arm could have held him up at this point, he would've smacked himself in the forehead. He'd let the surprise slip out…well, he was emotionally and physically drained, and ecstatically happy – it's hard to keep secrets!

"Engagement party? You mean Phoebe's giving that party for-" she looked at Arnold. "So we were going to our own engagement party, and you didn't tell me?"

He looked cheekily up at her. "Surprise?" he ventured tentatively.

"Oh, Arnold. What if I'd said no?"

"Well...I would've come up with something – but I didn't think you would have said no. You mad?"

"Of course not," she bent over the hand that had placed the engagement ring on her finger and kissed it, "but you're a bold kid, Arnold."

"Hey! That's my line!"

They both looked down in surprise towards the source of the voice. "Gerald?"

"Hey, you two lovebirds." Gerald was standing right below them, Phoebe and Brainy beside him. Phoebe was holding a great wadded mass in her arms. "Having fun up there?"

"Oh, as much as can be expected." Arnold called back, "but I think that we'd be having more fun down there. Sorry that we're late."

"It is hard to have a party with the guests of honor not present." Gerald nodded, laughing.

"Did he do it, Helga? Did he? Did he?" Phoebe cried out. Helga held up her hand so that Phoebe could see the ring. Phoebe gave a very un-Phoebe-like squeal and began jumping up and down. "Oh, I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! I'm so happy for you both!"

Brainy put a hand on Phoebe's shoulder and grinned. "Don't you think that this celebration would be a lot better if they were down here? Let's get them out of the tree first!" The three on the ground unrolled the great mass in Phoebe's arms – a giant blanket. "Okay, Arnold, jump!"

Usually, Arnold was a bit afraid of heights – however, he did not even hesitate. He let go of the tree house and landed in the blanket. Jumping up so that Helga could follow him, he began trying to rub the soreness out of his arms. "Thanks guys – especially you, Brainy. I didn't even think of using something like that."

"You okay, man?" Gerald asked him.

"Oh, sure. I just don't think I want to hold anything for a couple of hours at least."

Helga was not quite as eager as Arnold to jump into the blanket, but, with a little coaxing on his part, she too left the tree house. No sooner had she landed then she had launched herself into Arnold's arms. Brainy laughed, "You were saying, Arnold?"

"This is totally worth it."

Helga then flew over to Phoebe, who had dropped her corner of the blanket, and together they began jumping up and down and squealing like teenagers. The three men stood next to each other and shook their heads in amusement. _Women._

"Some things never change, huh guys?" Gerald said.

"Nope." Arnold replied.

"I guess I could say that Helga's finally fallen for you," Brainy chuckled, "but you know what Helga told me about puns, so I'd better not." His voice sobered a little, "Besides, it's not technically true – she fell for you a long time ago."

Surprised by the suddenly serious tone in his friend's voice, Arnold turned to Brainy. For a second, he thought he saw a glint of sadness in his friend's gaze, but then it became all genuine merriment as he thumped Arnold on the back. "Congratulations!"

_I must have imagined it, _Arnold thought, and smiled gratefully at Brainy.

"Come on, girls. We're already late to our own party!" Gerald called. Brainy picked up the blanket and headed towards Phoebe's house, Phoebe and Gerald walking beside him. The newly engaged lingered behind. As they reached for each other's hands, Helga's diamond scratched gently across Arnold's wrist, reminding him that this was all real. It was really happening – Helga had agreed to marry him!

Unbidden, a snatch of a song from their childhood days sprang into Arnold's head as he and his fiancée began to follow their friends.

_Arnold and Helga, sittin' in a tree.  
K-I-S-S-I-N-G_

_Not a bad idea_, he thought to himself, and he suited the action to the word.

* * *

A/N: I don't know how you guys plan out your stories when you write them, but I tend to have a broad outline sketched out and then random lines I want my characters to say just pop into my head. For example, Helga's "You're a bold kid, Arnold" followed by Gerald's "Hey, that's my line!" was one of the first things that I thought of when I started this story. I also had a bunch of really bad puns in my head that Brainy could have said for the chapter, as I have a real affinity for terrible puns, but I didn't want to inflict them on you (hehehe).

Anyway, there you are - the end of my very first fanfic with multiple chapters. I had a lot of fun writing it, and I hope that you enjoyed it! Please please please press that little button at the bottom and review!

Thanks for reading!


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